Day 65 - Deer Lake, Newfoundland

Oh my it is Friday, August 3rd and this day begins our return trip home.  Our last and furthest excursion was to Labrador, which we did yesterday; however, we take the ferry back to New Foundland today and actually return on some of the same highways.   Our guide was a super nice guy, told us stories about the country as well as his family and even stopped so we could take a group picture.  Instead of just dropping us off at the terminal, he backed in as far as he could and waited until we were escorted onto the ferry.  The trip was very smooth.  We played cards and walked around - the guys saw a couple of whales.

Our Tailgunner's Lorna and Roger were celebrating their anniversary today so we extended our best wishes to them.  Very nice couple.  Since we traveled the same road, it was hard to take different pictures so the above are just a few scenes of a fishing village, their boats, the ocean and a field of Fire Weed flowers.  Some of the boats have already been taken out of the water as the season for catching certain fish is over.

 I find these little villages so interesting as noted in a document I read today: 

From the early days of hand-lining and salting cod, to the recent lucrative fishery for snow crab, fishing has driven the Parson's Pond economy for over 200 years. (Village pictured above). Turbot, halibut and lumpfish are also common fish species in the area.  In l959, local fisherman joined together to build the first fish plant.  To qualify as a shareholder, people from the community had to invest the equivalent of $25 in labor, materials or money.  The plant closed as a processing operation when the cod moratorium was announced in l992.  Now the few fish caught are transported elsewhere for processing.  Snow crab filled the void afterwards but many people worry that this fishery, too, will one day close due to over-fishing.  Hopefully, Parson's Pond will continue to survive for many many years.

More pictures of the landscape from the ocean to the mountains, but look at the sky.  In the top right corner, the picture is of an opening in the sky.  We had a bit of drizzle, the clouds got dark and stormy looking but then there was like a hole in the clouds - bazaar. I guess the Dear Lord needed an opening to watch over us.  It stayed that way for the longest time.  Bottom left shows the stormy clouds with very strange swirls.  The day turned out sunny and warm so all went well as we neared the campground.  We all sat out for Happy Hour while I did laundry and fixed dinner as well. 



Picture of the Day!

This is our group bidding Labrador farewell.  I know the sign is welcoming us but we didn't take the picture when we arrived.  Oh well!!!

Hope your day went well and the Dear Lord is watching over you.